She was awarded a three-year Learning and Development Scholarship which was solely funded by the community, including through the fundraising initiative Coffee for a Cause.

Throughout the month of August participating coffee houses around the region will be donating cash to the UOW scholarship program with every caffeine hit sold.

Mrs Hunt, 32, said the extra financial help was a huge stress reliever and doesn’t think she would have been able to make the transition from TAFE to university without it.

“Having that help and coming into the uni and being able to purchase all my books … and the laptop that was also donated, put me at the level where I’m organised and ready to take tasks head on,” she said.

Mrs Hunt’s husband works in Sydney so when she’s not learning about cognitive processes she’s largely responsible for her children, ranging from age five up to 17.

She’s excited to this year give back by helping with an Olympic themed Coffee for a Cause morning tea in the Crown Street Mall on August 12.

‘It’s an amazing opportunity … being able to help others access scholarships in the future,” she said.

Every year 10 recipients, who have some kind of financial disadvantage or disability, are awarded the equity scholarship.

Sarah Lisle from UOW’s Office of Advancement said fundraising for the grants take many forms and were originally confined to on campus.

Last year the idea to branch out to Grill’d Wollongong lead to a number of other businesses happy to jump on the bandwagon.

“It’s not about giving to the university, it’s about giving through the university,” Ms Lisle said.

“It’s an expensive game coming to uni, sometimes when you are already struggling to think about other costs, the notion of text books, it seems like an impossible dream.”

In 2015, more than 16,500 coffees were sold during Coffee for a Cause, raising almost $4500 for student scholarships. 

Since it was established in 2008, it’s raised more than $22,000 for student equity scholarships through the generosity of staff, students and the community.

Coffee for a Cause will also embrace the Olympics in a special morning tea on Friday 12 August. 

GPT will host the Olympic-themed event in a shipping container in the Crown Street Mall.

Coffee outlets on UOW’s regional campuses, at Shoalhaven, Loftus, Moss Vale, Bega, Batemans Bay, as well as UOW Sydney Business School, Innovation Campus, and Wollongong Campus, are all taking part in the initiative.

Wollongong businesses supporting the cause: Bar Lissimo, Beast and Bread, Bostons Espresso, Bull & Bear, CoCo Cubano, Coffee Emporium, Gwynne Bakery and Café, Humber, Jamaica Blue, Kurtosh, Lavendi, Muffin Break, Nadia’s Café, Olive Café, Passionate Palate, POD Emporium, Shingle Inn, Son of a Gun Café (Sifters Co-Op), Swell Coffee, Taylor’s Health Grocers, The Giddy Goat, The Living Room, and Zanders.